


Havolina Drabbles Series

by stupidsexymustang



Category: Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood & Manga
Genre: Drabbles series, F/M, Havolina, Havolina Baby, Royai - Freeform, Royai baby
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-11-16
Updated: 2017-11-16
Packaged: 2019-02-03 08:42:16
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 5,534
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12744891
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/stupidsexymustang/pseuds/stupidsexymustang
Summary: A drabble series for the best B couple in the world, Jean Havoc and Rebecca Catalina. Will jump around in time, and deal with their relationship and the relationships of their eventual children, Bran and Ally.





	1. 1. Introductions

**Author's Note:**

> Chapter 1. Introductions, or How Rebecca Schooled Havoc the First Time They Met.  
> Jean Havoc, meet Rebecca Catalina. Rebecca Catalina, meet Jean Havoc. Things go well! (Things don’t go well)
> 
> A/N: Hey guys, I decided that I missed these two a whole damn lot. So, I’m going to write a drabble series about them. The first prompt was ‘Introductions’. I’ve written a little about their first meeting in Chapter 5 of ‘By Your Side’, so I decided to expound upon that for this first chapter. We’ll see how this goes. No promises on an update schedule, and these drabbles will definitely jump around in time. But hopefully you’ll enjoy them. I just know that I desperately missed writing about these dorks.

Rebecca sat on the bench in the locker room, disassembling and assembling her pistol. Riza was still on the range shooting and Rebecca had gotten bored of consistently coming in second to her, so she’d gone to the locker room to work on her timing. She was fast, but she’d been so focused on rifles lately that she’d gotten a little sloppy. She wanted to get back to having her time under a minute, but she was currently sitting at 63 seconds. It was frustrating her.

Halfway through her third reassembly, she heard the locker room door open. Her eyes swept over to the door, then widened of their own accord when she saw the man enter. He was tall, blond, and incredibly well-built. He sauntered into the locker room with his uniform jacket slung over his shoulder, an unlit cigarette dangling out of his mouth. His blue eyes landed on Rebecca and he smiled at her, a big charming grin. Rebecca simply smirked and finished mantling her pistol, getting up and going to her locker. She had no idea who this guy was, but she certainly hoped she’d find out. For now, she’d be coy.

As she reached into her locker for her rifle, she heard the other door down by the range open, and Riza’s familiar soft footfalls entered the room. Before Rebecca had a chance to look up, Riza’s warm voice filled the room.

“Oh! Warrant Officer Havoc, how nice to see you,” Riza said, walking over to her locker next to Rebecca. “Have you met Warrant Officer Catalina, yet?”

Rebecca turned around to face the man as he walked over, that charmer’s grin still gracing his features. He shook his head gently, the cigarette still unlit in his mouth. “No, not yet,” he said.

Riza gestured to the brunette. “This is Warrant Officer Rebecca Catalina. She works on the other side of the building for General Grumman.” Rebecca tilted her head a little in a nod, smirking at the blond. He was making no bones about the fact that he was completely drinking her in, giving her far longer of a gaze than was completely necessary. It was only proper of Rebecca to return the favor.

Riza continued her introductions. “And Rebecca, this is Warrant Officer Jean Havoc. He just joined us last week under Lieutenant-Colonel Mustang.”

Rebecca was barely listening. She heard what Riza was saying, sure, but it was pretty hard to focus on that when she was too busy focusing on the extremely defined biceps right in front of her, or the lines on his chest that she could just see the outline of through his not-tight-but-close-enough t-shirt.

Then of course this gorgeous specimen just had to open his mouth and ruin everything.

“You’re working an AW-50? That gun has quite the kick. If you can’t handle it, I could show you a few things.”

Out of the corner of her line of sight, Rebecca saw Riza’s hand cover her mouth to keep from laughing. Rebecca just smiled, showing teeth.

“Oh, you could show me a few things? Gosh, I’d love to see what you could show me.”

Havoc grinned at her, not recognizing what he’d unwittingly stepped into. “Come on, let’s go to the range.” He picked up her rifle for her and it took all of Rebecca’s strength to not burst out laughing in his face. He clearly thought he was being helpful and gentlemanly. Poor fool.

They walked out to the range together, Riza following behind, her hand still covering her mouth. Rebecca was a little surprised she hadn’t said anything yet, but Riza did rather enjoy watching Rebecca’s machinations. They reached the small stall and Havoc bent down, setting up the rifle for her. At least he was also pretty from this angle. He stood back up and gestured, so Rebecca laid herself out on the mat, daintily and prettily. She batted her eyelashes and flashed a sweet smile at him as she positioned herself behind her gun.

Havoc bent down and she looked through the scope. “Okay,” he spoke, “so if you want to avoid heavy kick ba-“

She fired, the gun barely moved, and the target 80 yards ahead of her needed a new head. She grinned at her handiwork, turning to look at the blond man. Havoc’s eyes were wide and shocked, his cigarette hanging precariously from his lips. He was frozen in place, staring at the target. Perfection. She sat up and looked at him, the prettiest, toothiest smile on her face.

“Thanks for the tips! I was soooo lost without your help.” Rebecca stood up and shouldered her gun, then winked at Riza and flounced off, leaving the two of them behind in the stall. As she walked away, a large grin on her face, she heard Riza pat Havoc’s shoulder and say, “I probably should have mentioned that she’s a weapons specialist.”

Yes, Rebecca thought, you should have. But he also shouldn’t have assumed. It was a damn shame that someone so pretty was clearly so thick-skulled to assume that she wasn’t good with weapons. She was in the military, damn it! What, did he think she was here on her looks? Rebecca rolled her eyes as she walked back to the locker room, blissfully unaware of just how much this man would change her life. But it would amuse her to no end in the coming years, to know that this was her first introduction to Jean Havoc.


	2. Complicated

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Chapter 2. Complicated, or How Rebecca and Havoc Need To Both Get Their Shit Together or Riza Is Going to Kill Them.  
> Summary: Havoc has some news and Rebecca doesn’t take it well, leaving Riza to try to get to the bottom of her friend’s unhappiness.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Second prompt, Complicated! There were so many options for this. The entire theme of Havolina could be ‘Complicated’. I decided to go with a time before they officially got together, when the two still couldn’t admit their feelings. No matter what happened to them later, this was definitely the most complicated thing they had to deal with.

The brunette had been irritated all day. Well, that wasn’t quite true. Rebecca had been in a perfectly normal mood this morning. Happy, even. She’d managed to avoid most of Grumman’s lewd comments and get a fair amount of work done before taking her lunch break. It was Wednesday, so she headed to the other side of the building to pick up Riza. Wednesdays were their day to have lunch together, and they both looked forward to it every week. And so it was, mood relatively high, that she opened the door to Lieutenant-Colonel Mustang’s office to take her friend on a much needed break.

Mustang’s team were all there, sitting in their respective spots. Breda and Falman were writing, Fuery was tinkering with some headphones, and Riza was working on some paperwork, but also smiling across the desk at Havoc, who was laughing and gesturing. Rebecca couldn’t stop the smile from lighting up her features as she looked at Havoc. He looked really happy, his smile wide as he gestured with his cigarette, telling whatever his story was to Riza. Rebecca started to walk over, when she heard Riza’s response to him.

“Well, Havoc, she sounds very lovely. I’m happy for you.”

Rebecca froze. ‘She’? What ‘she’? Why did Havoc have a ‘she’? Why was this ‘she’ making Havoc so happy? Rebecca felt something like a cold stone drop into her stomach and her whole body felt hot. She listened as Havoc continued.

“I am too! She’s just completely gorgeous and so sweet! Last night’s date was so much fun.”

Rebecca could feel her whole body beginning to tremble, and something was building up behind her eyes. As was her usual reaction when Second Lieutenant Jean Havoc made her feel emotions, she shoved them all aside and settled on one single emotion: anger. The world zoomed back into focus and Rebecca stomped over to Riza’s desk.

“Riza, let’s go!” She didn’t even turn her head to look at Havoc, instead focusing entirely on her friend. Rebecca crossed her arms and stood in place, fuming as Riza looked at her in surprise.

“Rebecca! I didn’t even see you come in. One second.” Riza bent over to pick up her purse while Rebecca loomed, her foot tapping impatiently. But of course, of *course* Havoc still had to open his dumb mouth.

“Hey Becca, I haven’t seen you in a-“

“I’ve been busy, Havoc!” She shouted, turning on her heel, her face red. “Busy having a life! And so, apparently, have you! So just leave me alone!”

Riza stood up, purse in hand, shocked by her friend’s outburst. Havoc too was leaning back in his chair, pushed away from her, surprise etched over his features. No one moved, not even the other three men in the room who weren’t even the object of Rebecca’s ire.

After a second of quiet shock, Havoc spoke, a sarcastic and pained edge to his voice. “Jeez, princess, sorry for even bothering to speak to you. I’ll remember to lower my head in quiet reverence the next time you grace us with your presence.”

The brunette sniffed and tilted her head up, her ponytail swishing behind her. “Come on, Reez.” She walked to the door, not bothering to wait and see if her friend was following her. She needed to get out of that room. Her body felt like it was on fire, the stone in her stomach felt heavy as lead, and there was still that prickling behind her eyes.

She swung the door open and stepped into the hallway, walking down it with a brisk pace. She could hear Riza following her, and her friend caught up in mere moments.

“Hey, slow down,” Riza said. “What was that back there? Talk to me.”

Rebecca wrapped her arms around her chest, shaking her head. “There’s nothing to talk about. I’m just hungry. Let’s get food.”

Riza’s brow wrinkled in displeasure. She had seen her friend upset many times, and this wasn’t just hunger. Rebecca was hurting. Riza’s features softened as she realized what Rebecca must have overheard when she came into the room. Havoc’s new girlfriend. Oh no. Her shoulders sank a little and she nodded.

“Alright. Food it is.”

\------------------------------------

And so it was that Rebecca’s fairly good mood turned sour. She stayed quiet during lunch, and Riza’s attempts to engage her or to make her smile were met with noncommittal shrugs and little commentary. This was so unlike Rebecca that it had Riza genuinely worried. When they got back to command, Riza told her that she’d come by later that night with Xingese.

“You don’t have to do that, Reez,” Rebecca started, but Riza interrupted her.

“I know I don’t, but I want to. I want to spend an evening with my friend.”

Rebecca simply nodded and walked away, leaving Riza to stand by herself in the hall outside of her office. The blonde woman sighed, watching her friend walk off. None of the men spoke to her when she came in, and Havoc didn’t say another word to her for the rest of the day. Riza wasn’t sure what to do. She was genuinely happy for Havoc that he had found a nice girl, though it seemed every few weeks he came in with yet another new girlfriend.

But she also knew what Rebecca refused to admit to herself. She knew that her friend was completely head over heels for that man, and it hurt Riza to the core of her being to see Rebecca so upset. She also knew that Havoc had feelings for Rebecca as well. It frustrated her to see those two dance around each other. This had been going on for at least a year, ever since the two had met. She just wanted them to get together. She was sure that their dating woes would end if they would just admit how they felt to each other. How was either one supposed to have a good relationship with someone else when they couldn’t stop thinking about the other? Riza knew that struggle all too well.

The rest of the day passed without incident, albeit quietly. At the end of the day, Riza went home to change clothes, then stopped by Rebecca’s favorite Xingese restaurant and grabbed some food, then headed to her friend’s small apartment.

It took a couple of knocks before the door finally opened, and Riza felt her heart break just a little when she saw Rebecca. Her dark hair was down and unruly, she already had her pajamas on, and her eyes were red and wet, mascara smudged. Rebecca feigned a smile.

“Hey, sorry I look like hell. I, uh, kinda forgot you were coming and fell asleep.”

‘Liar,’ Riza thought but she simply smiled. “It’s no problem. Here, you must be hungry. I brought your favorite.” The brunette smiled and opened the door wide for Riza. If there was one thing that the blonde sniper knew about her friend, it was that food, especially noodles, was the direct route to her heart.

Riza went in and got comfortable, spreading the food out on the coffee table while Rebecca made drinks. They ate together in quiet comfort, listening to music on the radio and making idle chatter about some new shops that had opened up and a plan to spend this Saturday shopping at the square in town. It was simple and pleasant, and it was nights like these that made Riza the happiest. She didn’t want to ruin the mood, especially when she could see that Rebecca’s spirits were beginning to lift a bit. But she needed to talk to her friend.

“So, Rebecca. About today…”

Predictably, the brunette leaned back against the couch and grabbed a pillow, pressing it into her face. “Don’t wanna talk about it. New subject,” she said, her voice muffled by the pillow. Riza sighed. She wasn’t going to back off.

“You like him.”

Rebecca scoffed behind the pillow. “Who are you talking about?”

The blonde’s eyes rolled into the back of her head. “You know exactly who I’m talking about. Havoc. You like him.”

“I do not,” the muffled voice came again. “You’re insane.”

“I am not insane and you do like him. I know you, Rebecca, and you do not blow your top like that except when confronted with people that you care about. Besides, you’ve made your feelings perfectly obvious over the last year and so has he.”

At that last comment, Rebecca sat up, tossing the pillow to the other side of the couch. “I have not! And you *are* insane if you think that man has made *anything* obvious! He’s a complete idiot and he drives me up a wall.”

“He only drives you up a wall because he hasn’t asked you out, yet,” Riza responded, and quickly kept talking before Rebecca could interrupt her. “And the only reason he hasn’t is because every time you get even a little close to each other, you both shove away from each other so fast that one would think you were similar sided magnets. You’re standing in your own way, Rebecca.”

The brunette exhaled sharply through her nose and tucked her legs underneath her on the couch. “That’s dumb. I don’t want to date him. And besides, didn’t you hear? He has a new, gorgeous, perfect girlfriend.” She spat out those last words like sucking venom from a wound. “He wants nothing to do with me and I want nothing to do with him.”

Riza sighed, shaking her head at her friend. “Why do you two have to make everything so complicated? It’s completely obvious that you care for each other. You ask about him all the time, and two days can’t go by in the office before Havoc inquires about you. God forbid you two see each other on the range or in training. You just end up spending the whole time trying to impress the other.”

Rebecca pouted. “I do not! He just tries to one-up me because he can’t stand the idea of me being better than him!”

Riza frowned. “That isn’t true and you know it. He works with me of all people and he’s the first one to defend me when someone complains about me being female and better than them. He’s desperately trying to impress you, just like you’re trying to impress him. You did this all the time in the Academy with guys you liked and you’re doing it now. And it was fine back then because those were all scummy men who didn’t deserve your time anyway. But this time, I feel like you’re actively standing in the way of your own happiness.” Riza’s face softened and she reached out and put her hand on Rebecca’s knee.

“I saw you today. The idea of him dating someone else hurt you. Didn’t it? Why are you so afraid to just tell him how you feel?”

Rebecca’s brow furrowed and she swallowed hard, pulling away from Riza. “I don’t know, Riza. I could ask you the same question. How *is* Lieutenant-Colonel Mustang, by the way?”

She’d pressed the button. Riza had crossed a line that Rebecca was uncomfortable with and so she’d pressed the button, the one topic about which Riza was a complete hypocrite. The blonde sighed and pulled her hand away, dropping it into her lap. “I’ll leave you alone about it.”

“Thank you,” Rebecca replied, and she leaned over and turned the music up on the radio. Riza sighed softly and rested her head on the seat of the couch, next to Rebecca’s leg. She loved her friend. She didn’t mean to push so hard. It was just that she saw how Rebecca smiled when she was simply in the same room with Havoc, and she saw how Havoc’s eyes lit up when he’d catch sight of Rebecca. No one made her laugh like he did, and certainly no one made her moods swing quite as fast.

Riza remembered when the two of them hadn’t seen each other in over a week and they’d talked for an hour and a half in the lunch room, making Havoc late for a meeting. He came in 20 minutes past and had smiled so sheepishly that Riza had needed to choke back a laugh. They were both constantly looking for excuses to touch each other. Rebecca had a habit of hitting him lightly on the arm when he irritated her or made her laugh or made her do anything, really. Havoc would pick her up sometimes, causing her to squeal and laugh and yell. And then there were times like today, when one would incite such strong emotions in the other that it caused a volcanic eruption, usually due to a complete lack of foresight by the other to recognize just how much they cared. Riza had never seen two people so ridiculously in love with the other who fought so hard to refuse that attraction.

Except when she looked in the mirror, of course. Sure, probably the reason this mattered so much to her was because she didn’t want to see two people who clearly felt deeply for each other stay apart for stupid reasons. Riza had enough of that in her own life. She didn’t want Rebecca to repeat her mistakes, even if they were wildly different situations. Riza thought she’d hit the nail on the head about Rebecca being afraid, though. She wouldn’t have recoiled so hard OR brought up the Lieutenant-Colonel if Riza hadn’t crossed the line and gotten at least sort of close to the truth. That was frustrating. She wanted her friend to be happy. She wanted both of her friends to be happy.

But it wasn’t something that she could force. If Rebecca and Havoc wanted to complicate their lives even further by refusing to be together, whether out of fear or confusion or indecisiveness, it was their own choice. Riza would just be there, and try to keep nudging them both in the right direction. Love didn’t need to be this complicated. But more times than not, it was. They were all just too completely human for their own good.


	3. Making History

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Chapter 3. Making History, or How Ally Havoc Goes on Her First Date  
> Summary: Ally Havoc has her first date, and the people in her life have their own opinions about that.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: I wrote this for ohmytheon, who wanted to read about the Havolina babies from their point of view. This is technically part one of two. I’ll get to the date in the second part, along with the aftermath. I wasn’t originally going to put this in the drabble series, but I couldn’t think of a title and I realized it sort of fit the prompt that had stopped me in my tracks. Anyway, this is a companion piece to Lanni’s fics about Aidan Mustang, Roy and Riza's son. Ally and Bran have made appearances in many of her Aidan fics, so you should definitely check those out for more background on these two. Mostly what you need to know for this is that Roy is Fuhrer, he's married to Riza, Aidan is their son, Rebecca and Jean are married, Bran and Ally are their children. Bran, Aidan, and Ally are best friends and have been their whole lives. Thank you for the inspiration, Lanni. <3 Enjoy!

Allison Havoc looked in the mirror as her mother ran a brush through her long blonde hair. Her mother had been talking, and normally Ally would have been paying attention, but it was less than an hour until her first date and her nerves were beginning to eat at her. She was too busy checking her reflection, second guessing the blue dress she had chosen, trying not to chew on her lower lip. Then her mother asked her a direct question and Ally’s blue eyes snapped up to look at her mother in the mirror.

“Sorry, mom, what did you say?”

Rebecca Havoc chuckled a little. “I said do you want me to put your hair up or leave it down? You have such pretty hair. I could curl it…” her voice trailed off and Ally shook her head.

“No curls,” she said. “My hair probably won’t hold it anyway.” Ally sighed, looking at her mother’s thick, dark curly hair. “I wish I had hair like yours, mom. Why’d I have to look like dad?”

Rebecca laughed at that, going back to brushing her daughter’s hair. “I’m sorry, sweetie. If it makes you feel better, my hair is incredibly difficult to maintain, and I’ve spent most of my life being frustrated by it.” She smiled and set the brush down, picking up a headband. “And I happen to love that you favor your father. You’re quite beautiful. How about this headband? It goes with the blue dress.”

Ally nodded, letting her mother place the headband and then arrange her hair around it. At 14, she’d already started having a few body image issues. It didn’t help that her mother was a curvy, beautiful, vivacious woman that Ally looked nothing like. Instead, Ally had gotten all of the physical genes from her dad. She was blonde, and blue-eyed, and disappointingly flat-chested. The only thing she’d gotten from her mom was her pointed chin. The least her dad could have done was made her tall, but no. She was 5 foot nothing, while her big brother was only 15 and almost as tall as dad now. And he had another growth spurt coming! It was enough to make Ally want to scream. How was she supposed to be intimidating from this height? Though Aidan said that Ally would be intimidating from any height…

Her face wrinkled in distaste. She didn’t want to think about Aidan right now. She was mad at him, and he was confused by it. It wasn’t like he had done anything, but that was precisely the problem. Ally looked back at her reflection and sighed. “Mom, can I please, pleeeaaase wear lipstick?”

Rebecca sighed, the world weary sigh of a mother who has had this conversation 30 times this month and hadn’t been looking forward to the 31st. “Allison, what have I said? No lipstick until you’re 16. Your father is already barely able to comprehend that you’re going on a date at 14. Can you imagine if I sent you out there in lipstick? He’d have a heart attack.”

Ally pouted but didn’t argue. She knew it was a long shot asking. Ally was sure that if she was just allowed to wear lipstick, her thin face would finally look pretty, instead of boring and plain. She grumbled a little. “It’s not even a date. It’s a group date, those don’t even count…”

Her mother chuckled. “They count to your father. And this boy asked you directly, right?”

She nodded. Michael Brosh had boldly walked up to her while she was in the middle of a conversation with Bran and Aidan, and point blankly asked her if she was busy on Saturday night. She’d said no, and then he’d told her that he and a couple of other people from her class were going to the bowling alley and if she’d come with him. And Ally had looked at Aidan, and then she’d looked back at Michael and she’d said yes. She remembered the conversation and her stomach did a little flip. She couldn’t tell if it was nerves, fear, or excitement. Maybe all of the above.

Rebecca continued. “See? It’s a date. Just because there are other people doesn’t make it less of a date. If that was the criteria, no one would ever date.” Her mother smiled at her. “How about I let you wear lip gloss, and a little bit of blush on your cheeks?”

Ally perked up at that. Blush would help how pale she was. “Yeah! Could I? Please?” Rebecca nodded and Ally grinned happily, turning to her face her. She watched her mom pull out her big makeup bag and look around for light pink blush, which she applied to her daughter’s cheeks with a very light hand. Ally looked in the mirror and smiled. It wasn’t much of a change, but she could tell that she was wearing it and that was all that mattered. She wrapped her arms around her mother and hugged her.

“Thanks, mom. That’s perfect.”

She could hear the smile in her mother’s voice as she spoke, her arms wrapping around her. “Of course, sweetie. I don’t want you to be nervous. I just want you to go have a good time. It’s good to hang out with other kids. Date or not.”

Rebecca never said it, but Ally knew that it worried her sometimes that her daughter pretty much only hung out with her brother and their best friend. Which really wasn’t true! She had tons of friends at school. She just saw them all in her classes, which Bran and Aidan weren’t in. So when she was out of school, she wanted to spend time with them. She would try to explain that, and her mother would smile nervously and say ‘of course’ or something like that. Ally didn’t see what the big deal was. It didn’t bother her dad at all. Maybe because it was his own son and then the Fuhrer’s son, so he knew she was always protected. Her dad was NOT happy about this date. He’d offered multiple times to go as a chaperone, and Ally had protested each time. It was just a bowling alley. There were plenty of people there. And she was in high school! She could do things without supervision.

In the end, her mother had put her foot down and told her dad that if he wanted to go to a bowling alley so badly, he could take her there on a date one night. That had shut him up and Ally had just grinned. Her mother was really good at bowling, and every time they went to a bowling alley, she wiped the floor with her dad. Besides, she knew he didn’t really care about going bowling. He just wanted to protect his daughter.

“I think you’re all done, sweetie. Want to go show Bran and your dad?”

Ally nodded and walked out of the bathroom, going down the stairs and into the back yard, where her dad was coaching Bran about baseball.

“You’re doing great, it’s all about keeping your arm strai-“ He paused mid-sentence when he saw her and grinned wide. “Ally Cat! You look amazing!”

Ally smiled happily. She may be close to her mother, but at her core, Ally was a complete Daddy’s Girl, and praise from him made her light up. He walked over, his arms out to pick her up, but she held up her hands. “No, daddy, you might wrinkle my dress! Or mess up my hair!”

Jean burst out in laughter at that, lifting his hands up. “You sound exactly like your mother. Well, you look beautiful, sweetheart.” She grinned and then Bran piped up.

“You look pretty, but why are you wearing a dress? Aren’t you going bowling?”

Ally glared at her big brother. “You can bowl in dresses. Besides, I have shorts on underneath it.”

Bran scoffed. “It still seems dumb. Just wear shorts, then.”

The tiny blonde rolled her eyes. “I wouldn’t expect you to understand.”

He tossed the baseball into the air, catching it in his glove. “Nope! I don’t.”

Jean interjected before Ally could retort. “You look lovely, and I’m glad to hear you’re wearing shorts.”

“I’m not stupid, daddy.”

Jean laughed at that, catching the baseball that Bran threw him. Bran spoke up again. “Can I use the phone later to call Aidan?”

“Aren’t you supposed to not use the phone while you’re grounded?” Ally spoke, and Bran glared, but Jean cut in again. “Yes, you can call Aidan later, and Ally, I know what the rules are. I do not need the reminder, thank you.”

“I just can’t GO anywhere, Allison,” Bran said, sticking his tongue out. Ally stuck hers out as well. She hated being called Allison by anyone except Mom, who had just walked outside.

“Your faces are going to get stuck like that if you two don’t quit,” she said, walking up and putting an arm around Jean. “Is there another glove? I’d like to play for a bit with you two.”

He nodded, handing her the one on his hand. “I think this one is yours, anyway. It was the first one I grabbed but it’s a little small for me.” He walked over to the shed. “One of these days I’m going to actually label each glove, I swear.”

Rebecca chuckled, watching him go in the shed, then smiled at Ally. “When does your friend Melissa arrive, sweetie?”

That was right. Melissa’s mom was picking everybody up since she had the biggest car. “Soon. I should probably go inside and wait.”

“Do you want me to wait inside with you?”

Ally shook her head, but then her dad popped back out. “Ally Cat, I’ll wait with you. I think my glove is inside anyway. Bran, work on your curve ball. I’ll be back in just a minute.”

Bran nodded, then hesitated. “Wait, Ally!” He ran up and pulled her away for a second, not harshly but with a little bit of urgency. “Um, have you talked to Aidan?”

Ally glared, crossing her arms. “No, not since yesterday at school. Why?”

Bran sighed a little, scratching the back of his head. “You should just talk to him, okay? Just…maybe after your date or something.”

Her brow furrowed. “Why? It’s not like he cares.”

Bran shook his head. “That’s where you’re wrong. Just talk to him, okay? Do it for me, because I can’t stand when you two are being stupid about each other.”

Ally opened her mouth to argue, but Bran was already walking back to his spot in the yard, taking position across from their mother, who waved and yelled at her to have a nice time. She sighed and went back into the house with her dad, sitting on the couch in the front room.

She watched her dad disappear into his bedroom, then come out with his glove. “See, I knew it was somewhere it shouldn’t be.” He came over and sat next to his daughter, a serious expression crossing his usually smiling and good-natured looks.

“Remind me of this young man’s name again.”

Ally sighed. “Michael Brosh. He goes to school with me.”

“And who is the mother that is taking you to the bowling alley?”

“Melissa’s mom, Mrs. Taylor.”

“Oh yeah, I remember her, with the big…nevermind. Do you remember your safety protocol?”

She sighed again, repeating the words that had been drilled into her. “If I see anything, hear anything, I go to the nearest pay phone and call the emergency number. I say ‘Rumplestiltskin’ and then I leave the phone off the hook. Then I run and hide and wait for an all clear.”

Her father nodded. “And if you can’t get to a phone?”

“Then I run and hide and wait for an all clear.”

He nodded in approval. “Good girl.” He looked out the window, seeing a big car pull into the driveway. “Your ride is here. Ready, sweetie?”

Ally nodded and stood up, gripping her small purse to her chest.

“Do you have money?” he asked.

“I do, mom gave me some cash and I have some of my allowance.”

“Okay, good. I love you, Ally Cat,” and he bent down and hugged her, tighter than normal. She smiled and melted into his hug just a little, squeezing him tightly. “I love you too, daddy.”

He released her, and for just a moment she thought about going outside and telling Mrs. Taylor that she had changed her mind, that she would much rather stay home and play baseball with her brother and her parents than go to a bowling alley on a group date. Which was true. But Ally very rarely backed out of anything, and besides, Bran would make fun of her if she stayed. And the blush would go to waste.

So instead, she gathered her courage, which she had inherited from both of her parents and was therefore ten-fold the amount of courage that any normal person would expect to dwell within the heart of a 14 year old, 5” blonde girl who looked like a strong wind would blow her over, and she walked outside, with her mother’s pointed chin held high.

Because while Ally may look like a Havoc, at her core she was a Catalina, and a Catalina never backed down from a challenge. Well, neither did a Havoc, but a Catalina was much more vocal about it.


End file.
